Stay Being Sought For Suffolk Man

SUFFOLK — The lawyer for a Suffolk man scheduled for execution today confirmed that he appealed a lower court's decision to deny a stay to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Dexter Lee Vinson, 43, of Suffolk faces lethal injection for abducting and killing his former girlfriend, Angela Felton, in 1997.

Vinson's lawyer, Robert E. Lee Jr., wants the state to wait for the high court's decision in a Florida death-row case challenging lethal injection as cruel and unusual. The decision in this case, which argues that lethal injection could cause intense pain, is expected in June.

Lee also has another petition pending before the Supreme Court that points to several errors in the Vinson case and wants the court to review them.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, who openly spoke against the death penalty during his campaign, also received a clemency petition. The governor told Lee that he wouldn't make a decision until the courts had ruled.

Lee said Wednesday that he expected to hear from the court today but that word could come as late as this evening.

Vinson's execution is scheduled for 9 p.m. today at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, north of Emporia. *